How To Gamble Bitcoin
What is the best way to relax, no matter if you are alone or with your friends? Playing some great online games or even hitting the casino and gamble a little bit. This type of activity lets us deal with our stressful lives and even earn some money in the process.
Casino games with live dealers and video slots, dice sites, sports betting and poker are the most popular forms of bitcoin gambling currently available. Many casinos offer welcome bonuses for new and existing players, usually doubling your first bitcoin deposit on their site. It’s no different than gambling with a different cryptocurrency. It’s not even all that different from making a deposit with a debit/credit card. Here’s what you’ll do. Go to the banking section once you’ve logged into your gambling site account. Choose Bitcoin Cash as your deposit option.
When the casinos became popular, we knew that we had to get up and go there. The internet changed all that and now we are able to gamble from the comfort of our own homes. There are so many different games available online, that you won’t have to worry if you can find the perfect game for you. No matter if you like simple games like slots or if you want to focus on something like poker or blackjack, you can find it all in both land and online casinos.
The internet changed a lot of things. We had to have the cash to be able to play games and now we can just put our card details and don’t worry about not having change for the next slot machine. However, this begs the question, with the rise of bitcoins, is it possible to gamble with that currency?
It’s a fact that bitcoins are making our lives easier and now let’s talk if there is an option to combine casino games with them.
Gambling with Bitcoins
The short and easy answer is that yes, you can use bitcoins to gamble. However, before you start doing that online, first you need to buy that particular currency or other digital currencies that the online casino accepts.
Many of the places double as faucets and when you register on their website, they will refer you to play a new game. If you don’t have the currency right now, you can get an account on any website that offers bitcoins. You can acquire the services of a bitcoin provider or you can even buy them from a friend or someone you know.
Another great thing is that when you go to a website that allows these games, most of them will let you have a few bitcoins for free. You just need to click the link on their website and you will be redirected to a page that will give you some amount of coins. It is really important to be careful at this step. If you don’t trust the website or if it is something that a random person sent you, it may be a virus or a bug that can do more harm than good.
Advantages of Bitcoin Gambling
The cryptocurrency gives so many advantages that work in favor of both the operators and the players, and because of that many people say that bitcoin is a natural match for the art of online gambling.
Now let’s see what are the main advantages and why you should consider these currencies instead of the card with your country’s currency.
However, you should know that some of these benefits will be available to you only if you sign up for a platform that works only with crypto, so have that in your mind next time you sign up to a new website.
Privacy
There are a lot of people who don’t like sharing their name or any other personal details, so if you want to stay anonymous, crypto is the way to go. When you choose websites like these, then you won’t be bothered with any requirements or KYC procedures.
Most of the BTC operators will not have any questions for you. This is a great option for people that live in countries where online gambling is not legal. However, if you are unsure if it is legal for you to use online gambling websites or not, it’s better to do a research or consult with a lawyer, just to stay on the safe side.
If you are living in the US, then you are one of the lucky ones! BTC will allow you to have fun and play in online casinos without any restrictions!
Low Transaction Fees
Have you ever had to pay fees that are so high that you were even considering to stop playing? Well, with cryptocurrencies you will not have to worry about that. The fees are pretty much non-existent and most of the operators will cover them on your behalf.
Another thing that is great for you is that the platforms have lower costs when they develop a cashier section, so they can provide lower margins and better odds for the players. The bottom line is that if you use BTC when playing online casino games, you have better odds of winning.
Speed
Wire transfers take time. We know that, we’ve experienced that. And sometimes you don’t have that much time to wait. The same things sometimes can happen with other traditional payment options like debit and credit cards.
The great thing about BTC withdrawals and transactions is that it will be done in seconds. You can put your money in and you can get the money you’ve made whenever you want. You won’t have to wait for hours and even days to get your money.
Security
When you use traditional gambling websites, there is always a risk of someone hacking into your account. If you haven’t experienced that, chances are, you know someone who has. And that is probably the worst thing that can happen to you when you use an online gambling site.
Smart Casino Guide adds that when you use a crypto wallet properly, the risk comes down to pretty much zero. You will not have to worry about someone hacking in it and sharing your details with anyone. People who use BTC say that their funds are protected and they can do whatever they want without worrying about someone getting their account details.
Promotions
Did you know that BTC users get some of the biggest poker, casino and sportsbook bonuses? They are available to them only!
And when you compare the amount of extra cash that you will be getting to the small gifts you may sometimes get when using a traditional payment system, there is no debate! You will be amazed at how much extra money and bonuses you can get when using BTC.
It’s Tax-Free
This is something that not everyone knows about. When you use Bitcoin, you are not required to pay or declare anything to the state.
However, there are some governments that are trying to change that, so try and keep up to date with the laws in your country.
For now, you can enjoy BTC gambling without taxes in every country in the world.
Have you ever used bitcoins to gamble before? What do you think of the process, is it something that you will continue to do?
At the end of the day, online games are made for us to have some and distract us from current issues. However, you should always be smart when using online casinos. Use only trusted websites and be careful where you put the information. If you notice that something is not right or if you notice that you are being charged more than you should, contact your bank and contact customer support of the website.
Always be smart and safe when playing casino games and use bitcoins wisely. They are made to ease the whole process and allow you to be able to play without worrying about other things.
So you want to know how to gamble with Bitcoin?
You’ve come to the right place, I think. This post is ALL about how to gamble with Bitcoin.
I know some people like to assume their audience knows something about a subject already, especially when you’re dealing with search engine visitors who presumably typed in a specific phrase to find a page.
I prefer to assume you know nothing at all about the subject and then cover it comprehensively.
That’s what I plan to do with this post.
What Bitcoin Is and How Bitcoin Works
Bitcoin is a digital currency. This is as opposed to a traditional currency like the U.S. dollar, the Euro, or the Japanese yen.
Other words to describe Bitcoin include “virtual currency” and “cryptocurrency.” (I like that 2nd expression, by the way, because the prefix “crypto” refers to hiding or encrypting information.)
But what does that mean?
Something that’s digital–a book, music, currency–is something that’s coded onto a computer somewhere. It’s not something that necessarily has physical properties. Some digital books are available in hardback and softcover, but the digital book isn’t available in either–it only exists virtually. Same thing with digital music. You stream it over a computer.
So Bitcoin, being a digital currency, is a type of money which has no physical properties. A Bitcoin isn’t available as an actual physical coin or bank note. It’s only available on the web.
The other cool thing about Bitcoin (and other digital currencies) is that they’re government-independent. This sounds weird to modern ears, but older people might remember the use of “scrip” on farms. My dad likes to tell stories about a huge farm out near where he grew up where most of the employees never left the property. The scrip was money that was privately-issued by the owners of the farm. They could buy anything they needed there with it.
What’s the practical application of being government-independent?
It allows for the possibility of anonymous transactions.
Anonymity is great if you’re dealing with gambling, because gambling is–in many jurisdictions–a legal gray area.
Creators of digital currency like Bitcoin make the bitcoins electronically and record them onto a virtual public ledger. This is called “mining.”
As with traditional currency, you need someplace to store your bitcoins. In real life, most of us carry our cash in a money clip or wallet. Bitcoin users have virtual Bitcoin wallets. In fact, without a Bitcoin wallet, you have no way of storing bitcoins.
There are also marketplaces where you can buy and sell bitcoins and other digital currencies. These are called “exchanges.” They’re not much different from any other financial marketplace, either–a digital currency exchange is similar to the stock market.
Your First Tentative Steps toward Gambling with Bitcoin
The first step toward using Bitcoin to gamble with is setting up a Bitcoin wallet. Without that, you have no place to put your bitcoins, so that’s the natural first thing to do.
Once you have a wallet, you can put some bitcoins in it. To do that, you need to get some bitcoins.
And the easiest way to do that is to buy some bitcoins using another currency.
That’s not the only way, though. You could have someone transfer you some bitcoins. I know some webmasters in the gambling industry who sell advertising and get paid via bitcoins.
You could mine your own bitcoins, too, but that’s probably almost entirely beyond the scope of this post. After all, you came here wanting to know how to gamble with Bitcoin–not how to start mining bitcoins.
Once you have bitcoins, you need to find a gambling site which allows you to deposit (and hopefully withdraw) using the currency.
So you’re looking for 3 kinds of sites, in this order:
- Bitcoin wallets
- Bitcoin exchanges
- Bitcoin casinos
Bitcoin Gambling Casinos
Websites which accept Bitcoin for wagers are called “Bitcoin casinos.” They’ve become increasingly popular over the last couple of years–especially with players from the United States.
One of the biggest challenges facing U.S. gamblers who like to play online is the questionable legality of online gambling transactions. It’s not illegal in most states to place a bet on a hand of blackjack or a spin of the slot machine reels.
Can You Gamble With Bitcoin
But it is illegal for the company on the other end of that transaction to accept that wager.
And in 2006, the government pass legislation called UIGEA (The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. This made it illegal to facilitate money transfers for the purposes of illegal gambling.
As a result, it became hard for U.S. gamblers to transfer money to online casinos for the purposes of internet gambling. Most credit card companies reject such transactions immediately.
Remember how I mentioned that one of the big advantages to using a cryptocurrency is the anonymity?
This is why Bitcoin gambling is on the rise.
Bitcoin Gambling Sites
Bitcoin gambling sites can be categorized roughly into 2 groups:
- Sites which work exclusively with Bitcoin. At these sites, the only deposit and/or withdrawal method is Bitcoin. All the games show your credits in Bitcoin format.
- Other sites which offer Bitcoin as one of multiple deposit and withdrawal options. These types of sites are becoming increasingly popular. They don’t usually show the credits in terms of Bitcoin, though–they usually just use U.S. dollars–or whatever your local currency is.
Many of these Bitcoin-exclusive gambling sites use something called “provable fairness.” This is a technology that double-checks the gambling games’ outcomes for mathematical fairness. (Although I’d argue that casino games, by their very nature, are inherently unfair mathematically.)
I prefer to gambling at more established gambling websites that accept Bitcoin as an option, rather than gamble at a site where Bitcoin is the only option. I’m just not as familiar with the new brand names in the Bitcoin casino space. I might give some of these sites a try, though, as they seem to have unique games that are unavailable at more traditional online casinos.
Disadvantages of Using Bitcoin to Gamble With
I’d be remiss in my duties as a blogger if I didn’t mention some of the disadvantages associated with using Bitcoin to gamble with.
The most important of these is the volatility of the price of Bitcoin.
When you gamble in Euros or U.S. dollars, you have a reasonable idea that the currency’s value won’t go up or down much between the time you deposit and the time you cash out. Those are stable markets.
Because of its nature, Bitcoin prices are extremely volatile. In fact, as I write this, Bitcoin has been as high as $7700 per bitcoin during the last 30 days, but the price today is only $6250.
If you deposited a single bitcoin in a casino and broke even–still having a single bitcoin at cashout time–you would have lost $1450 in value just because the price of Bitcoin has dropped.
This is also a feature, though. The price of Bitcoin doesn’t go steadily down, after all. It goes up, too. When it does, you can take advantage of that to make a profit even if your gambling didn’t go well.
The trick is timing the market prices. I don’t have any advice on that, and I suspect that anyone who does might be less than trustworthy.
The other disadvantage is that it’s something new, and that might make you uncomfortable. I’m a firm believer that doing new things and being uncomfortable lead to growth, though. So both of these so-called disadvantages are also advantages–from the right point of view.
Where to Go Next
Here are some Bitcoin wallets to consider:
- Bitcoin Wallet
- breadwallet
- Edge
- Electrum
- GreenAddress
- GreenBits
- KeepKey
- Ledger Nano S
- Mycelium
- Samourai Wallet
- TREZOR
Here are some Bitcoin exchanges to consider, too:
- Bitcoin Source
- Bitfinex
- Bitstamp
- BTCChina
- BTC-e
- Coinbase
- Cryptsy
- Kraken
Bitcoin Casino Online Usa
Finally, here are some Bitcoin casinos to consider:
- Bovada
- Cafe Casino
- Ignition Casino
- Slots.lv
Conclusion
So how do you gamble with Bitcoin?
It’s as easy as opening an account with a Bitcoin wallet, buying some bitcoins, and opening an account with a casino that accepts Bitcoin as a payment option.
Bitcoin Casino Us
The perks of anonymity and easy processing are hard to overstate, but it’s also a drag that the price of Bitcoin rises and falls so sharply and seemingly randomly.